Weber twice attended a seventh-grade basketball game this winter on a recruiting trip. With Illinois already gaining commitments from three juniors and two sophomores, Illini recruiters started working on high school freshmen and younger.

"I'd never been to a seventh-grade game,'' Weber said. "One of the things we've talked about with recruiting is if we can get involved with a kid early and make a good impression, it's really important. When I first got here, we couldn't always get a kid on campus. We were struggling late to get them here.''

While Weber wouldn't push for a commitment from a junior high school player, Illinois took a commitment last season from Jereme Richmond when Richmond was a freshman in the first week of his high school career.

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